


Day 5: Stars

by meikyuu_makeyou



Series: 30-Day Writing Challenge [5]
Category: Naniwa Danshi, Snow Man (Japan Band)
Genre: I'm sorry kinda, M/M, this took a long while
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 09:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19788244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meikyuu_makeyou/pseuds/meikyuu_makeyou
Summary: The wheels of fate spin hard for the boys - Michieda Shunsuke and Raul.A trip to Spain ties the knot around the red strings that held the boys together.





	Day 5: Stars

  
The wheels of fate started spinning from the day Michieda Shunsuke met Murakami Maido Raul three years ago. It was a segment on Maido Jani, a show from Kansai Television, and Michieda was pushed forward with a showcase of his skill of Aikido, and Raul had voluntarily stepped forward to receive the twist. The segment continued, and they played up the Masochistic character of Raul as he thanked the other boy. The segment ended and they parted ways with no other words exchanged.

The next time they spoke was 3 years down the road during the joint rehearsals for Saitama Super Arena. Naniwa Danshi being the less busy group out of all three groups reached the rehearsal studio early. They went through the Real DX choreography and sat around, discussing on their setlist for the concert. The door opened and Travis Japan walked in, greeting them, and shifted into their dance clothes. Just as they were about to finish up their choreography for Lock Lock, the door opened and the last group came in, greeting the staffs before warmly greeting Travis Japan. 

Naniwa Danshi followed the recently joined group and they watched the one boy dressed in a shirt that was in his member colour. Mukai Koji looked over to their direction and his eyes lit up before he excused himself to hurry over to say hi. They greeted each other warmly and the boy waved goodbye before he returned to the group. One of the two tallest in the group immediately latched himself on him and buried his face in his shoulder. 

Michieda frowned at the tall boy and his mouth dropped open.

Raul. 

Michieda would have never thought that the boy he performed Aikido on three years back would grow so tall now. They met eyes and Raul eyes widened with recognition. They both awkwardly nodded to each other. 

The staff gathered all 3 groups together and started allocating Johnny's medley grouping. 

“Raul, Michieda.”

Both boys looked up, startled. The staff grinned at them expectantly and announced their song name to be Seishun Amigo. The seniors and teammates cheered and whistled as both boys stared at each other in shock.

_What. The. Shit._

The staff clapped her hands and chased them off to their respective groups to practise. Michieda found himself looking up to the tall boy, they both shared an awkward smile and went to their respective positions to learn the dance through the video. Koji whined worriedly about his new son and his other child and the group hushed him quickly.

“But they are both shy with strangers, it will be awkward!!” Koji pouted and gathered his attention back to his group.

He wasn’t wrong about the silence, the two boys have not interacted at all since the break was called. The other groups looked over at the two silent children as they both busied themselves on their phones. Even the usually calm Fukazawa Tatsuya looked torn between going to smack their heads together or leave them to be. 

As the performance day drew closer, the rest of the group grew more worried. They matched perfectly on their dance, sang their lyrics perfectly too. But the spark between them that the seniors had was missing. Raul knew it, for he had a back-up for this pair of seniors countless of times. He knew it was missing but the other boy seems to be as shy as he is. 

Tugging on his hair frustratedly, Raul sighed loudly making his frustration reverberated across the empty room. The others have gone off for their lunch break and Raul stayed behind to work on some personal achievements. The door swung open and Michieda plopped himself beside him, turning to say, 

“Stop tugging your hair, I can see a bald patch already!”

Raul blinked spastically and Michieda offered a small smile. 

“What?”

“You talked to me!”

“Yeah I did, lost to a bet with Koji-kun just now, and he told me you’re shy with people so I had to bridge the conversation… got thrown back to accompany you with packed lunch for both of us but I’m the same so this is awkward, please don’t ask me to elaborate further.”

“Thank you,” Raul said earnestly, feeling the distance between them had shortened. 

They both shared a smile and Raul held his hand out to tug the older boy up to his feet. 

“Shall we practise again before we eat?”

Michieda nodded and the music started, as the boys danced to the choreography that they are super familiar with. 

The day comes and Michieda was preparing himself under the stage when Raul walks over and slings an arm around him. They shared a smile and felt hyped up when they listened to the older members crooned the ballad to the hyped screams from the fans. They fist-bumped and the stage gets pushed up. 

The crowd went into a frenzy and when they faced each other, Raul had an urge to reach out to him. He shot his hand out, fingers caressing the other boy’s face. He felt the boy shook with shock but he recovered quickly, a trait that most Kansai juniors have - quick to adapt to change, and he raised his hand to rest on Raul’s head. Raul met eyes with him and smirked before they pulled away and got into position. 

They ended the show, disappearing behind the descending stage with deafening screams. They crashed backstage and they tumbled to the changing area. As they stripped off their performing clothes and shared a quick drink, the boys shared a look before they hurried off to their respective exits. 

A bond was forged, and two destinies have been entwined.

  
It has been three years since their Seishun Amigo performance, the boys have been keeping in contact. They go for short holidays together to other parts of Japan - they had cover Okinawa, Hokkaido and Shikoku. Their friendship runs deep and entwined and soon they were the closest friends ever. It became a common thing to have both of them talking about their trips and friendship in magazines and interviews. 

When their off days matched again, Raul booked both of them a flight to his Aunt’s place in rural Spain. They sat on the long haul flight and Michieda was clearly excited to visit Europe. Raul’s cousins will be fetching them from the airport and Raul can’t wait to see them. He has met them a few times when they came to Japan but he had never gone to meet them before. 

And Michieda even secretly learnt Spanish for this trip. 

Michieda napped on their way there, head falling to rest comfortably on Raul’s shoulder. Raul froze, cranking his neck to watch the other boy's sleeping face. He sighed and gently eased the armrest between them out of the way and Michieda comes right into his space, snuggling against his arm. Raul clicked his tongue and tucked the blanket that pooled around Michieda’s lap up to his shoulders. 

“Good night, Shun-chan.”

The next time they woke up was when the air stewardess woke them up for their in-flight meals. Michieda blinked sleepily up at Raul and snuggled tighter to him. Raul sighed and order the food for him, blushing slightly under the scrutinising look. She served the food and went off while Raul turned back to Michieda and gently woke him again. 

“Micchi, you have to wake up… at least eat something before you go back to sleep.”

Raul pushed Michieda up to a sitting position and the other boy blinked slowly. Raul sighed and opened the other’s meal first, scooping a mouthful of rice and bringing it to his mouth. Michieda obediently opened his mouth and Raul shoved the spoon in, causing Michieda to jolt awake. 

“Hey!”

Raul bites back a smile and Michieda pouted before swallowing the rice in his mouth. He poked around the meal and whined about cramped legs before Raul pointedly ignored him and continued with his in-flight meal. Michieda smiled to himself and quickly shoved his food down.

They stood up to wait in line for the toilet and both boys took the time to stretch their legs. The remaining time for the flight was spent watching movies or taking turns to nap before their meal was served again. When they touched down, Raul joined Michieda at the foreigners queue much to Michieda’s surprise. Raul waved his Japanese passport and Michieda nearly tsukkomed himself for the lack of brains. 

They briskly collected their luggage and left the immigration area. There was a tall couple holding on to a Spanish sign that had Raul written in Katagana. Raul squealed and dashed up to them, forgoing his luggage. Michieda swallowed a worrying lump down his throat and pushed both their luggage over. 

Raul was still clinging on to the girl and turned to Michieda. 

“This is my Cousin Maya and her boyfriend Takeshi!”

Michieda bowed and greeted back with his own name before they shook his hands warmly. Takeshi helped Michieda with the luggage while Raul linked arms with Maya and they both led the way to the car. Michieda could already feel the curiosity emitting off the other man and he wondered how did Raul introduce him to his extended family when he planned the trip. 

When they got into the car, Raul and Michieda sat at the back and they were off to the lodgings. Raul’s cousins lived by the countryside and Michieda was gazing excitedly out of the window. This has got to be the craziest idea both of them have and the mere fact that they are only here for four days before their gruesome flight back home. 

Michieda watched them sing in tune with the radio and Raul grinned at him from across. Maya turned behind and asked if they have any songs to sing since you know they are idols. Michieda was about to decline when Raul started singing Lock On quietly. Michieda closed his eyes, letting the other boy’s voice washed over him, and he drifted to sleep. 

When Michieda woke up, the car was rolling into the garage of the huge mansion and Raul was hovering near him. They blinked, and Raul pulled back stunned before he sheepishly rubbed his nose. 

“Was about to wake you up, we are here at my Aunt’s place!” Raul smiled and hopped out of the car to assist Takeshi in carrying their luggage out of the trunk. 

Michieda got out to stretch and Raul grabbed his hands to follow the other two in. There was a loud yell in Spanish and a middle-aged lady tumbled out and hugged Raul tightly, making the other boy dropped his grip on his wrist and hugged his Aunt back. They spoke quietly in Spanish and Michieda could pick out a few words but that’s about it. 

Raul gestured towards Michieda and introduced him to the Aunt. Michieda picked out a few words and blinked when he heard “boyfriend” and was about to ask when the Aunt engulfed him into a tight hug as well. Raul sheepishly grinned at Michieda and they got huddled into the living room. Takeshi held out a cup of water for them and announced that they are heading out to ride and asked if the boys would like to join them.

Raul nodded before turning to Michieda and explained that he has never ridden before so he will be riding with him.

“Ride?”

“Horses. I’m trained, don’t worry..” Raul reassured the other boy.

They headed out of the house to the backyard where a large farm stretched out to the distance. They turn to their right and found a stable with a few horses kept inside, Raul approached a grey stallion and stroked his mane softly, talking to him. Michieda took his camera out and snapped a quick photo of the other boy, making the boy look over.

Snap. Another beautiful photo.

Raul turned red as Michieda lowered the camera lens, ears burning. Raul turned his attention back to the stallion and quickly saddled him up. Maya walked over with her horse and giggled at their red faces before she holds out a pair of riding boots to Michieda. He quickly put them on and turned back to Raul who held out a hand to him.

“You can get up from here, I’ll hoist you up.”

Michieda blinked and watched a demonstration from Raul before he tried to do the same, he felt Raul’s hand on his thighs and pushed him across the horse. He sat snuggly on the saddle and Raul hoisted himself up, careful to not hit him, and sat in front of Michieda. He turned to the back and explained that to be safe, hold on to him tightly. Michieda nodded and Raul signalled to his cousin before they started off. 

Michieda gripped his shoulders tightly, as the horse started off with a slow walk. Raul froze at the touch and the horse continued slowly, letting the other boy get used to the momentum. Raul asked if they can go a little faster, earning a nod, and urged the horse into a trot. The other pair had already disappeared into the horizon, and Michieda feels like a burden.

“Hey, it’s ok... I had to start off slow too, so don’t you worry about us losing out. We’ll catch up soon, just let me know when you’re ready for a faster pace.” Raul said, feeling the waves of distress from the other boy. 

Michieda nodded, and slide his hands around Raul’s waist before nodding again. Raul blushed a little at the contact but urged the horse into a canter. Michieda let out a little yelp as the horse dashed forward, and the scenery flies past them. Michieda loosens his grip on Raul’s waist and looked around as their horse catches up with the other pair and they slowly rode together to a beautiful meadow.

Raul hopped off the horse first, Michieda marvelling at his grace, and opened his arms out to catch Michieda. The boy hesitated, and Raul patiently waited for him, before he swung off the horse into his arms. They pulled apart and Raul grinned softly before he ran over to help Takeshi with the picnic set up. Maya comes over and helped Michieda to tie the horse at the post before she glanced at him again.

“You know, I haven’t seen Raul looking so happy for a while... The last we saw him six years back, he was just a cocky dancer. The new group he is in really did a lot to change him to who he is now.”

“Snow Man.. is a great group... We all strive to be like them.”

“But you played a part in shaping him to be this fine young man you know.”

Michieda turned to her, questioningly.

“His love for you changed him to be who he is now.”

“What.. We aren’t dating..” Michieda shook his head denying.

Maya sighed, clasping a hand over her head. “Seriously, I take it back... He is still a cocky little shit. Gosh, Michieda-kun, I’m so sorry... He, Raul, has been introducing you as his boyfriend, so everyone thought both of you are dating..”

Michieda blinked, and flushed red, and looked down to his feet. “I guessed as much.”

“You could understand Spanish?” Maya asked in Spanish.

“A little?” Michieda replied in Spanish and Maya howled with laughter.

“I love you so much,” she crooned, pulling him into a tight hug, and Michieda blushed a little. “I’ll keep this a secret for you, but let me know when you are revealing it to him, I can’t wait to see his face.”

Michieda grinned and looked back at the boy setting the mat. Maya sighed and offered to help the two hopeless boys. Michieda trailed behind and Raul passed the food to him wordlessly, the chemistry they shared put to good use. Takeshi and Maya watched the boys worked at putting the food out on the mat in awe. No wonder they are Johnnys Idols, the way they work is with grace and efficiency.

Once they were done, they sat together at the edge and watched the scenery below. Raul passed Michieda a sandwich and Michieda bit into it quickly, finally feeling the hunger. Raul sighed and reached for a tissue to press against the side of Michieda’s lips and wiped the tomato smudge off.

They both froze at the close proximity and Raul just continued swabbing at the corner of Michieda’s lips until the older boy, held on to his wrist. Ignoring the fact that they have an audience, Michieda pressed forward and crashed their lips together.

Raul let out a soft noise and Michieda used his free hand to hold his head in place, pressing deeper into the kiss. Raul gasped as they pulled away and Michieda smirked. He glanced briefly at Maya and turned his attention to Raul who looked like he will be going into a seizure.

“Esta es mi respuesta para ti, te amo también*,” Michieda whispered his tongue gliding over the foreign pronunciation.

Raul blinked, his brain not quite catching up on the course of events. Michieda frowned.

“I probably should have said that in Japanese huh.”

“No, I… wait what…”

“You sure you got what I was trying to say.”

“No, I mean Yes… but when the heck did you learn Spanish… YOU KNEW THAT I CALLED YOU MY BOYFRIEND?”

“Maya did help to confirm it, I thought I misheard it.”

Raul blinked spastically and Michieda laughed at his stunned face. Raul growled and tugged Michieda forward by his hoodie, crashing their lips together again. They smiled into the kiss, and Raul left on more on his lips before they pulled away.

“Y esa fue mi respuesta a la tuya**,” Raul whispered back and Michieda grinned at him.

“You two don’t mind us, and we really hate to disturb you lovebirds but we really want to grab a sandwich..” Maya called from the back.

Raul flushed red before Michieda threw them a box of tissues. The other pair came over and they chatted over sandwiches and cold lemonade. Dusk fell upon them and the other half of the family came by, with dinner in hand. Raul proudly introduced Michieda as his boyfriend and Michieda greeted everyone in Spanish earning him loads of praises.

They shared a smile and watched the sun set over the horizon. After dinner was done, they stretched out on the mat, silently stargazing as the night sky filled with silver stars. Raul’s aunt pointed out the different constellations to Michieda, sharing her knowledge of the galaxy to him as the boys laid side by side on the mat.

She taught them how to read the stars so regardless of where they are, they will always find their way home. 

Michieda took Raul’s hand into his, and Raul leaned his head on Michieda’s shoulders - despite the height difference - and Michieda sighed.

“How much trouble are we in, if we don’t head back,” Michieda asked softly, lips against Raul’s crown.

“A lot.”

“Think it is worth it.”

“Not really, in my honest opinion.”

“That was supposed to be a yes.”

“But it doesn’t matter as long as you are here, by my side.. Nothing matters,” Raul replies easily, twisting to a more comfortable position on Michieda’s shoulder.

“This is so beautiful..”

“Me or the sky?”

“I meant to say the quietness, the stillness of the night..”

“I was hoping for a more romantic answer.”

Michieda leaned down, taking Raul’s lips with his. Raul stretched a hand up to twine his fingers in Michieda’s hair. They broke away, and Michieda pressed a kiss on his forehead.

“Does that live up to your standards, Mister Hopeless Romantic?”

Raul smacked him on the head and buried his face into his shoulders. Michieda laughed softly, tugging him closer as more stars shine down on them. They have so much more to learn, a long path to walk, but it’s fine if they have each other by their side. 

They will achieve their dreams, one day. Together. Hand-in-hand. 

For if they are lost, they will look up to the stars, for they will guide them home.

**Author's Note:**

> *this is my answer to you, I love you too
> 
> **and that was my answer to yours
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long to come out, I was feeling down and wasn't much into the mood to write... I had to change my muse from IwaFuka to Raul/Micchi for this theme. A small shoutout to Chi for crosschecking the two Spanish sentences because we all know google translate can't be fully trusted.
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you'll enjoy this :) Comments and Feedbacks are greatly appreciated!


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